Texas Progressivess round up the weekly thoughts

SocraticGadfly talks about the reality, and non-reality, of Interior's mandatory cuts in Colorado River water supply.

The PUC ignored calls to wait from the Texas Lege and even Dannie Goeb his own self and OKed Oncor building two big, and bigly controversial, high voltage transmission lines to West Texas. The voltage — 765 kilovolt, a first in the area — as well as the routing, is part of the angst.

They don't — and won't for the foreseeable future — make Republicans like Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker any more. RIP. She stands in history as the first woman elected to the Senate without previously being named to fill a vacancy of her late husband's seat.

Will some people actually move out of the Guadalupe River basin rather than face a likely round 3? Will the Monthly use the words "climate change" next time it writes such a story?  

If your school district faces a takeover, blame Mike Morath. 

The Current reviewed Greg Abbott's cursed summer playlist.

The Dallas Observer reported on the use of Flock cameras on college campuses.

Texas Monthly talked to Billy Gibbons about the future of ZZ Top.

Caroline Pitchkolan copes with the fear created by immigration enforcement.

The Texas Observer has a message for Dan Patrick about his book-banning obsession, from an Abilene public school librarian.

Neil at the Houston Democracy Project Blog reported on the Houston City Council Public Safety Committee meeting where HPD Chief Diaz failed to show up. The bottom line appears to be we can’t have HPD/ICE transparency because HPD isn’t following the law.

Camp Mystic and accountability

Texas Monthly wrote late last month about parents demanding accountability from Camp Mystic and the other camps in the Hill Country, flooded out last summer with massive loss of life — much of that preventable if many camps hadn't built new cabins in floodplains, had better emergency systems, and were in counties with better emergency systems.

Here's the nutgraf, about one-third in.

[E] ven as they reached out to one another, parents of the girls who died at Camp Mystic say they were cut off from its owners, the Eastlands. Their questions went unanswered. As they learned more about the timeline and events of that night, comparing accounts and reviewing the camp’s safety protocols, they concluded that members of the multigenerational Eastland family had acted irresponsibly. On November 10, the Hollises and the families of seventeen other Mystic campers and two counselors filed the first round of negligence and wrongful death lawsuits, claiming that the camp ignored flood warnings and failed to enact adequate safety measures. Attorney Mikal Watts, who is representing the Eastlands, reiterated to me what he has said in multiple media interviews: The camp’s shelter-in-place orders were based on what was learned in past floods and were in line with FEMA and other government agencies’ flood protocols.

I've written about the Eastlands before, along with some of the other sites — including getting the Obama-era FEMA to pencil-whip floodplain maps. So, Tweety Eastland and descendants posturing as "we were hurt too" can go fuck themselves.

And, that's where the story takes off. Yes, Dick Eastland died trying to save a camp kid. Yes, Tweety has been to at least one camper funeral. But, the families above note? Trying to get information, you know, like about possibly building in a floodplain, just hasn't been happening. 

On the legal controls side, the Trib then reports on the new camp regulation statutes the Department of State Health Services has just proposed. The biggie is a massive increase in camp licensing and relicensing fees. It's "progressive" based on camp size, so it won't drive smaller camps out of business. That hasn't stopped smaller camps from bitching, cuz Tex-ass, cheapness and capitalism.

Here's the Trib's pull-outs:

Last month, the Department of State Health Services teased the dramatic change during a meeting to discuss the rollout of a pair of camp safety bills that the Legislature passed in response to the July 4 Hill Country floods that killed at least 137 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic. 

At that meeting and in a survey the state conducted in the fall, several camp operators said such licensing fees and other new requirements could put many in the industry out of business because most camps are small nonprofits. 

“This causes an undue burden for smaller or more remote camps,” according to a survey response from Livingston-based Boxwoods camp obtained by The Texas Tribune. “All the costs that are a result of this legislation should not be passed on to camps.” 

Also proposed Tuesday is an overhaul of the little-known Youth Camp Advisory Committee, which meets semiannually to request rule changes to the state health agency and to lawmakers when they are in session. The Texas Tribune found that the makeup of this committee for many years has been mostly camp leadership and that while members can’t make rules, they can influence how much rules impact the industry. Camp Mystic’s Britt Eastland is a current member. 

The proposed change to the nine-person advisory committee would reduce the number of camp operators on the board from seven to four, and would replace them with specialized positions, such as one for a parent who has attended camp in the past two years. It also requires a person specialized in camp activities, and someone who is a child abuse expert, a pediatric psychologist or a psychiatrist to be on the committee.

Actually, yes, the cost of legislation SHOULD be pushed to you; that's the whole point of regulation like this. And, if you're running your camp on such small margins this really would fiscally injure you, you probably should shut down anyway. 

There's this on the floodplain:

Other proposed changes include prohibiting a youth camp from placing a cabin within a Federal Emergency Management Agency-identified 100-year floodplain unless it’s located on a still body of water, such as a lake or pond, or is not connected to a watercourse, such as a river or stream, and the resulting water is dammed. Even if the cabin falls into these exceptions, it must be 1,000 feet away from a floodway, and the youth camp operator must install and maintain emergency ladders capable of providing access to the cabin’s roof.

Not onerous.

And, this, more so, on the emergency communications:

A youth camp operator will also be required to provide and maintain broadband internet services using end-to-end fiber-optic facilities and a secondary broadband internet connection. 

Multiple camp operators said in the state survey they were concerned about the broadband requirements because of how geographically remote they are. 

“We contacted AT&T (our local internet provider) to receive an estimate for fiber optic installation and were quoted the exorbitant cost of $1.7 million. This is cost-prohibitive and virtually impossible for us to access,” according to a response from Huntsville-based Forest Glen Camps.

Since there is until Dec. 19 for input, if there's some way that one can reasonably be modified, I'm OK. If this were adult-only camps, I'd be OK with eliminating it, even. 

As for Kerr County's refusal of state emergency update money in the past? The Trib and Pro Publica report they were far from alone, and that some legiscritters acknowledge the bill was flawed, both on relative high local match share requirements and other stringencies.

Texas progressives talk state GOP, propaganda, more

Off the Kuff published interviews with Amanda Edwards,Isaiah Martin, Christian Menefee, and Jolanda Jones, candidates in the special election for CD18. 

SocraticGadfly talked about how the Texas GOP "TACO-ed" on threat vs reality of state representative censures.

No shock to many, but Pro Publica reports in detail how Trump is working to turn ICE into "a violent, shadowy federal police force."

A John Cornyn advisor is right that Wesley Hunt is a "legend in his own mind."

The Zionazis in Israel have upped their use of Gazan gangs to break Trump's not-so-Nobel ceasefire by stealth. 

November food stamps will be cut off if the federal shutdown continues through the end of this month. It's unclear if that will affect direct government food to food banks or not. 

Is Strangeabbott backing Trump sending Texas National Guard troops to Illinois for petty personal reasons, just like the Donald himself acts? Shock me. 

Love Field and DFW are among airports refusing to show those dreadful Homeland Security shutdown propaganda videos.

Neil at Houston Democracy Project spoke at the successful No Kings protest at Houston City Hall. Here is what he said about empowering ourselves. There were 20,000 Downtown & additional 25,000 at protests across Houston-region. 

The Texas Signal tries to find out just how weird the Houston Heights is.  

Mean Green Cougar Red checks in on Iceland's tourist industry.

Evil MoPac has Halloween costume ideas for you.

The Texas Observer compares today's "rainbow panic" to yesteryear's "satanic panic".

G. Elliott Morris estimates that the second "No Kings Day" protests were "likely the largest single-day political demonstration since 1970".

The TPA says a sad farewell to CityCast Houston and its daily newsletter Hey Houston, which end this week after a three-year run. CityCast Austin continues on.

Texas Progressives talks book bans, art and related

The Roundup got so big I split it into two. 

Leander ISD, reportedly a bastion of strength on non-nutter school boards and districts, has yanked "To Kill A Mockingbird," Frederick Douglass' memoir and other books from school library shelves. Why? Per the Anger and Clarity link, it's NOT SB 13, which specifically targeted school libraries; it's the "anti-DEI" SB 12. 

Sadly, the school district used AI to determine what was "DEI." What? Do school district leaders no longer read books themselves?

Pivoting back to SB 13, maybe the parents' library committees will use AI like this as well.

== 

Mean Green Cougar Red sees some tough demographic times ahead for US colleges and universities.

The Texas Signal highlights a new comic strip about a group of jazz musicians in the Jim Crow South and how they cope.  

Looking for bugs in the Davis Mountains is yielding insights.   

Texas Progressives look at education and more

The Observer takes a deep dive into the latest political shenanigans, including astroturfing on Dallas ballot initiatives, by Mr. Pink Slime, Monty Bennett of the Dallas Express.

The former editor of UT-Dallas' student newspaper, shit-canned by the university over Palestine, has started a new unofficial student paper. He talks here about campus politics.

The Trib looks at five of the eight State Board of Education races. I see that Green Hunter Crow, running for Seat 11, is nailing down his perennial candidate status while also engaging in teh stupidz.

At the Observer, Justin Miller looks at the latest on the chances of Dade "Dade" Phelan to remain Texas Speaker of the House.

Judd Legum notes that the Montgomery County library committee's push to move a children's book about Pilgrims and Wampanoags from non-fiction to fiction has been reversed and the committee itself suspended by the Montgomery County Commissioners Court.

Off the Kuff published interviews with Kristin Hook, candidate in CD21, and Laurel Swift, candidate in HD121. 

SocraticGadfly takes a skeptical look at Voters of Tomorrow, which thrust itself into the news last week.

The Lone Star Project reminds us once again about Tarrant County's terrible MAGA Sheriff. (Ignore / reject LSP's ending about "vote for every Democrat on your ballot.")

The Current reports Kristin Hook's accurate assessment of Rep. Chip Roy's character. 

The Dallas Observer notes that our state is a national leader in "educational gag orders".  

Lone Star Left considers Democrat Sam Eppler's chances in CD24.

Texas Supremes OK 15th Court of Appeals

Another legal fix is sort-of in. Despite the Tex-ass Constitution seeming to indicate otherwise, the Texas Supreme Court says that Strangeabbott's new 15th Court of Appeals is constitutional. Full opinion here; court rejects that the "statewide" is unconstitutional, saying the constitution's "divided" for appeals courts just means more than one. Interestingly, tho the ruling came out around midday Friday, as of Sunday, the Trib and the Snooze had nothing. Especially bad on the Morning News, as the suit about the court's validity originated with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office.

As for Strangeabbott appointing judges, the Supremes said it was too close to the election to undo that. Interesting that NObody apparently challenged that angle legally, with a mandamus or other filing, at the time Abbott signed the bill into law, as it was not too late then.

As for the likes of Steve Vladeck saying this needed a constitutional amendment, per this background story, that's not the hill the DCSO died on.

Per that backgrounder, we'll see if there's any more filings on that angle after this court hears its first cases.

And, per Vladeck's comments elsewhere, maybe he needs to shit or get off the pot on "court-packing" at places like the Supreme Court. Once again, a Democrat who needs to grow a pair.

Texas Progressives talk nuttery and grifting

SocraticGadfly offers a mini-roundup of thoughts on several recent Texas news items: Three Percenters, Alex Jones, TxDOT and Ike Dike. 

Off the Kuff has updates on the voter purge lawsuit and one of the lawsuits against the big voter suppression law from last year.

The state wants to extend one sliver of Medicaid coverage — some maternal coverage — while excluding women who have had past abortions. Maybe HHS hasn't rejected it yet, but it surely will. 

Strangeabbott of course knew that Austin PD thug Justin Berry had been indicted before appointing him to TCOLE. It's high-octane dog whistling.

Texas Dems in the US House will soon have a chance to show whether they're ConservaDems or not on climate change. Most, not just Cuellar, will likely come out as ConservaDems.

Trump  got Stalinesque support numbers at CPAC. Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, wasn't far behind.

There's a new book out debunking bite marks and other junk criminal forensic "science" much espoused by Texas law enforcement and prosecutors.

Wolfforth, drag queen capital of West Texas.

Texans leaving Texas. Nuff said, Rethuglican and ConservaDem Texas exceptionalists.

The Kansas abortion referendum turned out a lot of younger voters. Maybe there IS a demographic revolution of some sort? (If Dems don't botch it, or if it remains confined to special issues.) 

Saliha Bayrak introduces you to Travis County Civil District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble.

Robert Rivard hopes to finally see justice for the family of Cameron Redus.

The Dallas Observer tells the story of Buc-ee's and one of the guys from Jackass.

Space City Weather gives an early August update on the tropics and the likelihood of storm activity in the near future.

The myth of the Texas economic miracle

Four-day workweeks, or even forced furloughs, for state employees? A projected budget deficit, for next year, of 10 percent of the total budget, perhaps more?

We're in California, right? Arizona? Nevada? Or, if not in a Sunbelt housing bubble state, we're in Michigan? Ohio?

Nope, we're in Texas, and those dire warnings of state belt-tightening come from Speaker of the House Joe Straus.

Dire enough that a leading House Republican is both talking the truth, beyond Straus, about the degree of the deficit, and increasing his push for legalized gambling.

Gov. Rick Perry likes to talk about his jobs creation, the state's low-tax nature and other things, but here's the truth.

Texas may not have a state income tax, but it has one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation. At the local level, your city, county and school district property tax bill will be among the highest in the nation. And, in the years since the GOP has gotten control of both houses of the Lege, "fees," or taxes under another name, have increased, increased and increased.

As for income? Texas has one of the highest rich-poor gaps of any state in the country. It has the highest uninsured rate of any state.

It has a dysfunctional state government, with an anachronistic Legislature that not only is a part-time critter, but meets only every other year!

A part-time, but annual, legislature would be bad enough, but this is horrible. Yes, various committees are holding hearings, etc., but unless Tricky Ricky Perry wants to risk his re-election, and put his campaign fundraising on hold while it would be in session, there will be no special session of the Legislature. Texas will have to wait to officially address its problems by legislative votes until next year.

Will Exxon selloff stop Big Oil conspiracies?

Probably not, although this would dissuade any rational person from believing that Big Oil is conspiring to jack up gas prices in the U.S.:

ExxonMobil is selling all, yes all, of its U.S. gas stations.

That includes both the 800 or so it directly owned and operated stations and the 1,400 leased to franchisees.

Why?

In a word, even with prices at the pump the way they are, Exxon says there’s not enough profit on that end of the stick.

BUT, if we take Rex Tillerson at face value — a hard thing to do, admittedly — why would anybody else pay more than pennies on the dollar for them?

More seriously, it looks like Exxon is looking for any money it can to help fund additional exploration, or else to build new refineries, or both.

Texas is one of ExxonMobil’s largest sites of company-owned gas stations, from Mobil’s historic presence here, of course.

Some homebuilders appear to have broken Texas law

Texas law, as of a few years ago, required new construction areas to have a one-hour runoff detention standard, in order to cut down on increased flash flooding in urban areas. Well, per an AP statistical list the nation’s four largest homebuilders failed to do that 247 times in Texas.

If I hear the phrase ‘miracle crop’ one more time …

I’m going to punch a credulous reporter right in the nose. I see sorghum is now the miracle crop du jour, now that the bloom has worn off ethanol and has never yet affixed itself to cellulostic ethanol, algae blooms, or hard copies of minutes from Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force.

Yes, sorghum is versatile. And yes, Texas grows a fair amount of it.

BUT. … just a few caveats about this “miracle crop.”

First, it has to face the same competition for acreage as the four grains more commonly grown than it.

Second, sorghum as ethanol needs energy return on energy investment, or EROEI, research, something famously NOT done on corn for ethanol 30 years ago.

The story claims sorghum for ethanol has an EROEI four times better than corn and in the neighborhood of sugarcane. We’ll see. The same paragraph mistakenly or uninformedly imputs an EROEI of 2 to corn, when 1 is the correct answer.

Then, you have this line of gibberish:

Unlike corn, sweet sorghum is not in high demand in the global food market, so its use in biofuel production would have little impact on food prices and food security, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics said.

Well, it IS used as livestock feed. No, there’s no sorghum flour to hit more than a buck a pound at the supermarket, but there is beef to get more expensive. And, if sorghum for ethanol pushes aside corn, then it stays pricey.

And, per Wiki, here’s another problem: Commercial-grade sorghum uses a lot of nitrogen.

Hell, for that matter, Johnson grass is a member of the sorghum genus. There’s plenty of that here in Texas. Why bother with grain sorghum for fuel?

Texas targeting uninsured drivers – but not car insurance companies

Three years after the Texas Legislature passed a bill to crack down on uninsured drivers, the state will start to crack down on uninsured drivers.

But, as usual with the business-suckup Texas Lege and state regulatory agencies, there’s not a peep about cracking down on car insurance companies.

After all, the new law gives insurers, as a unit, a captive audience.

And, we all know what has resulted from state insurance commissioners’ get-tough talk with homeowners’ insurance companies the past several years.

Enjoying those big insurance savings from Farmers yet?

Oh, by the way, MADD’s argument that drunken drivers are less likely to have insurance than others is specious at best and empirically unsubstantiated at worst. (Do they offer any evidence on this claim? Not in the story.)

Mothers Against Drunk Driving was founded on a noble purpose and did good work in its early years. But, it’s moved from that in the direction of broader neo-prohibitionism in general and sticking its nose into areas outside its original mandate.

Surprisingly, the head of the state auto insurers’ trade group says his members aren’t that enthusiastic.

What both the Lege and MADD are ignoring is:

The percentage of uninsured drivers who are illegal immigrants.

Enough said.

State psych hospitals latest Texas screw-up

If it’s in Texas, and it’s a state social service, you can pretty much count on it being underfunded, overworked and misoperated, with the stress of all three contributing to employee malfeasance. The Texas state mental hospital system is the latest poster child.

Sexual and physical assaults are not uncommon. In all, 72 employees of the system have been fired for physical abuse; dozens more on lesser charges, with no word on sexual assault firings.

“You get what you pay for,” said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, who has bipolar disorder. “When you financially dumb something down, you make services cheap, something’s got to give. Unfortunately, it usually ends up being a mentally ill or disabled Texan.”

Of course, this is on a par with the state’s treatment of the mentally ill in general. Child Protective Services, understaffed in general, has little in the way of counseling services. And, mental health staff inside the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state’s prison system? Forget it.

Beyond the active abuse, there’s the passive abuse of neglect.

Or, neglect combined with overmedication, which some parents believe has killed their mentally ill adult children.

What next on Texas Mormon compound case?

By now, most the country has heard about last week’s Texas raid on a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound in Eldorado, including the removal of more than 400 children.

Unless the state of Texas and Child Protective Services in particular get their acts together quickly, I predict the state is going to be in a bunch of trouble, including some lawsuits against it.

This USA Today column summarizes some points for national readers. After that, I’ll add local points cleaned from Texas newspapers and my own knowledge, and offer up why I think the way I do.

• Did Texas have any option short of taking the children from their families for weeks? This is the largest child custody case in Texas and U.S. history, and the seizure of so many children is both extreme and extraordinary. Authorities said they raided the compound — belonging to an isolationist group called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which is known to practice polygamy — after a call to a domestic abuse hotline from a 16-year-old seeking help. The caller wasn’t found, but child welfare officials said they saw several teenage girls who were pregnant or with young children. That prompted them to remove all the children.

• Did the state infringe on the group's right to practice its religion? FLDS members have invited fear and suspicion by cutting themselves off from society. It is likely that the sect built its isolated West Texas compound in 2004 to avoid outside interference. In recent days, FLDS mothers have appeared on TV wearing prairie dresses and old-fashioned hairdos. Different, yes, but the Constitution protects religious freedom, as long as it's practiced legally.

• Did anyone inside the compound violate statutory rape, child molestation or other laws? Whatever the group’s beliefs, the age of consent in Texas is 17, and the age of marriage with parental consent is 16. On TV, at least one FLDS man said he did not know Texas law prohibited sex with adolescent girls. If the law has been violated, the girls should be protected and offenders prosecuted.

• What is in the best interest of each child? What's right for one child might not be right for all 437. Appropriately, a judge has ordered that the case of each child be heard by June 5. DNA tests are being conducted to sort out tangled families. In the meantime, the emotional toll on the parents is evident. How the children are faring can only be guessed. They are being transferred to temporary foster care after being held in a coliseum in the town of San Angelo.

Now, some Texas-level observations, some of which will provide further explanation to USA Today points.

First, we can go beyond “the caller wasn’t found.” Though nobody will say anything on the record by name, it’s pretty clear this was a prank call. Without excusing anything that may have happened at the Eldorado compound, parents know that rebellious teenagers, in some cases, will make prank calls against their parents to authorities.

The state’s failure to adequately investigate that possibility before the raid could be a matter of legal liability in any lawsuits the FLDS file.

And, things like a state district judge treating the children like cattle and not having individual hearings on their custody status will only add to that.

Second, and unsurprisingly, Gov. Helmethair, aka Rick Perry, is AWOL on this issue. Why? For the same reason that folks like the Rutherford Institute are jumping in with both feet — Rick doesn’t want to alienate the Religious Right, especially now that he has announced he will run for re-election in 2010.

Third, it’s no crime to be a pregnant teen, or our jails would be even more bursting than they are now. (I think I first saw this in a Steve Chapman column.)

Fourth, as other FLDS-type cases have shown, unless this is tried very carefully (assuming criminal charges result), you run the risk of generating a Stockholm Syndrome situation where teen brides side with their non-caffeinated sugar daddies. My confidence Texas will try this, and a judge will hear it, with that level of skill? Right now, about 10 percent.

That’s especially true on statuatory rape charges. After this fiasco, good luck to the state of Texas on proving those charges.

Will Texas voters elect this clown AGAIN?

Despite only getting 40 percent of the vote in 2006, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday he is running for re-election in 2010.

Well, he will just have one primary opponent, in what should be a bruising dust-up.

Yes, you heard me right. One.

And only one.

Who that “one” is, and how that race might turn out, coming right up.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will indeed challenge Perry, and I believe win. And, not as a Republican, which I most certainly am not, nor as a Democrat, which I am not, either, I would pay primo money to watch that fight. As for why I think he’ll win, read below, where I list the reasons why he would be a tougher opponent for Democrats than Perry.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson will again play Hamlet, then play chicken liver, just as in 2006, and opt not to run, then make up some bullshit excuse for why.

Trust me on this one, she doesn’t have it in her. She knows she won’t come close with collecting Religious Right votes and if Dewhurst announces before her, he’ll line up more of the financial conservative vote in suburban Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.

So, scratch Kay. If McCain loses in 2008, she might accept a Republican VP slot in 2012. If not, she’ll likely retire from the Senate.

As for Democrats, they probably would like to run against Perry, and certainly would do better against him than Dewhurst. Dewhurst is less hard-line conservative, especially on Religious Right issues, than Perry. He also is simply smoother as a person. Plus, he has a metro power base in Houston. As for Gov. Helmethair vs. Dewhurst on other issues, the Trans-Texas Corridor is a biggie. Now, secretly, Dewhurst may like some of its provisions. But, so far, he’s not come off as sounding any way in favor of it.

That said, the 2006 election showed Democrats that, with state demographics, they have a better chance of beating any Republican who goes too far right. And, without Grandma Strayhorn around this time, Dem deep pockets will line up early behind a candidate.

But whom? Chris Bell might deserve another shot, but I don’t know if he’ll take it.

I’m going to throw out State Sen. Royce West. He’s denied the itch before, but by 2010 he will have spent enough time in the Texas Senate to want to move on. That’s unless he reaches some non-attack quid pro quo with Dewhurst and runs for lieutenant governor instead. He’s got enough connections through his law practice, I believe is acceptable to more progressive Democrats, has a solid legislative record, and through the recognition of being Senate President Pro Tem, has party leaders he can line up.

We’ll see how this turns out, starting about 18 months from now.

Texas spends $1 billion to court FutureGen

Yes, that’s the price of incentivess the state is spending to attract the experimental clean-coal technology power plant.

Just think if Gov. Rick Perry and the Lege would shell out that much to enforce current state and federal pollution regulations, toughen up state laws, and cooperate with, rather than fight, the EPA on urban ozone standards in the biggest metropolitan areas.

But, that would be so “environmentalist,” so “green,” and we can’t have that in the Lone Star State now, can we?

And, for the last time, you numbnut east Texans, the Leon County site gets no bonus points for being on top of an active coal mine. Texas lignite is way too dirty to use for clean coal technology. You’ll be seeing rail cars come from Wyoming, instead.

Texas is No. 1 — in dirty power plants

A work e-mail I received from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) rates the country’s 50 dirtiest power plants:

The report will show that the 12 states with the heaviest concentrations of the 50 dirtiest power plants (in terms of one key pollutant) are: Texas (five); Pennsylvania (four); Indiana (four); Alabama (three); Georgia (three); North Carolina (three); Ohio (three); West Virginia (three); Wyoming (two); Florida (two); Kentucky (two); and New Mexico (two).

Standing by for comment from Gov. Rick Perry.

Subprime crunch continues to belie “go-go” Texas economy

Texas is now third in the nation in foreclosures.

A large part of the problem here? The story details a Hispanic family who don’t speak Engligh well — easy pickings for an unscrupulous mortgage broker.

Meanwhile, national problems continue to mount:

More than 2 million home loans across the country could face default because of subprime lending practices, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit organization in Durham, N.C.

Again, there’s the ripple effect, of real estate agents, mortgage brokers, etc. having their jobs impacted. Defaulting homeowners have their credit rates shot and can buy less on credit in the future, too.

I hate to rain on Texas mythology…

But I don’t hate it that much

The visitor center at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park, where Texians declared independence from Mexico March 2, 1836, has one glaring error.

It claims Texas is the only state to have been an independent republic before joining the Union.

WRONG!

Historians and avid residents in Vermont (the Vermont Republic of Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys) California (the Bear Flag Republic just before Anglos in northern California and an overzealous John C. Fremont heard about the U.S. declaration of war on Mexico) and Hawaii (an 1893 “pineapple republic” of Anglo planters, including old man Dole, overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani in an attempt to force American annexation, which Grover Cleveland refused to do.) Heck, California’s state flag even says “California Republic” on it.

So, if we’re going to have Sam Houston IV at Texas Independence Day ceremonies talking about the need to get more Texas history in schools, let’s make sure it’s the right history.

Rick Perry: Wasting your tax $$$ wth Metroplex billboards

Do we really need a bunch of Trans Texas Corridor billboards cluttering up Metroplex freeways?

In a word, no.